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Sept. 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball (5-0) hits the road this weekend, traveling to South Bend, Ind. for the Golden Dome Invitational.
The Nittany Lions open the weekend with a late-afternoon matchup against Eastern Kentucky (1-7) at 4:30 p.m. ET. PSU returns to the court the next day to take on Mississippi State (6-1) Saturday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. Before squaring off against tournament host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET.
Nittany Lion fans will have the opportunity to watch all Penn State matches this weekend, as they will stream live on WatchND.tv free of charge. Please visit the tournament central page linked above for direct video links.
QUICK SETS
* The Nittany Lions went 2-0 last weekend, claiming a pair of wins against two nationally ranked teams in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. With the consecutive victories, Penn State has now won its last 25 straight matches, dating back to its first win in the streak on Oct. 17, 2014.
* Penn State has earned all five of its victories this year by way of a 3-0 sweep. The Nittany Lions have not dropped a set since surrendering the second set of the 2014 NCAA national semifinal match against Stanford, Dec. 18, 2014. PSU has won its last 20 consecutive sets.
* After guiding Penn State to a 2-0 week at home, sophomore Haleigh Washington earned Co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors. She shares this week's award with Ohio State's Taylor Sandbothe. The nod is Washington's second career Big Ten Player of the Week laurel.
* Senior Kendall Pierce has been selected as a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. Pierce is one of 30 women's volleyball student-athletes to be named a candidate, along with one other from the Big Ten conference. The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
* Sophomore Haleigh Washington earned Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge Most Outstanding Player honors, while redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney and senior Megan Courtney joined her on the all-tournament team.
* Averaging 3.63 blocks per set on the year, Penn State has commanded a 54.5 - 19.0 advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents in 2015. The average ranks second nationally. Individually, sophomore Heidi Thelen is leading the team with 29 total blocks. Her 1.93 average ranks second nationally. Sophomore Haleigh Washington is close behind with 22 total blocks, her 1.47 blocks per set ranks 27th in the national standings.
* Penn State's .296 hitting clip ranks 11th in the NCAA national standings, bolstered by Haleigh Washington's team-high .486 hitting clip, which is slotted seventh nationally. The Nittany Lions have limited their opponents to just a .118 hitting efficiency, which ranks 13th among NCAA women's volleyball programs in the country.
* PSU was voted No. 1 overall for the third consecutive week in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Penn State received 63 of a possible 64 first place votes.
* Including Penn State, more than half of the Big Ten teams in the conference are featured in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll, including seven in the top 25 and two receiving votes.
* Penn State's most recent opponent this week is the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The Nittany Lions swept EKU at home in 2013, when Penn State welcomed the Colonels to the court for the Penn State Classic. PSU has captured wins in the last four consecutive meetings, but has not met Eastern Kentucky at a neutral site since 1988.
* Penn State's matchup against Mississippi State marks the first meeting between the two programs. Mississippi State is PSU's second "first meeting" this season as Penn State played Stony Brook for the first time in the Penn State Classic.
* The Nittany Lions may have not played Notre Dame since 1996, but they gave squared off against the Fighting Irish head coach recently. In his first year at the helm of the Notre Dame program, Jim McLaughlin was the head coach at Washington in 2013, when PSU defeated the Huskies in the 2013 NCAA national semifinals. Overall, Penn State has won its last six consecutive matches against Notre Dame, but have not visited South Bend since 1990.
WEEK 3: AVCA TOP 25 COACHES' POLL UPDATE
Penn State remained atop the AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the third consecutive week, earning 63 of a possible 64 first place votes. Including PSU, this week's poll features more than half of the Big Ten conference teams with seven in the top 25 and two receiving votes.
KENDALL'S GOT CLASS
Senior Kendall Pierce has been selected as a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. Pierce is one of 30 women's volleyball student-athletes to be named a candidate, along with one other from the Big Ten conference. The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. A health policy and administration major, she was honored as a 2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished scholar. Pierce also earned back-to-back Academic All-Big Ten selections from 2013-14.
WASHINGTON NAMED CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After helping top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball to a pair of wins against nationally ranked opponents, sophomore Haleigh Washington earned Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors. Washington shares the honor with Ohio State's Taylor Sandbothe.
The award marks the second career Big Ten Player of the Week nod for Washington, as well as her fourth career total Big Ten Weekly honor. She earned a pair of Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades in 2014. Washington led the team with 3.33 kills per set on .515 hitting in a 2-0 week that featured straight set wins against No. 21 Colorado and No. 2 Stanford. Defensively, Washington finished second on the team with 1.17 blocks per set this week, including back-to-back multi-block performances.
BIG TEN/PAC-12 CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
With a pair of multi-block performances and a team-high hitting clip against No. 2 Stanford, sophomore Haleigh Washington earned Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge All-Tournament team honors. Washington led the team eight kills on .500 hitting against No. 21 Colorado before logging 12 kills on .526 efficiency against the Cardinal. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney and senior Megan Courtney joined her on the All-Tournament team.
Whitney had four blocks against the Buffaloes before finishing tied for first on the team with 13 kills on .440 hitting against Stanford. Courtney had a team-high 12 digs against No. 21 Colorado before registering a double-double against Stanford with 11 kills and 13 digs.
WHITNEY JOINS BIG TEN FOREIGN TOUR
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney joined the inaugural Big Ten Women's Volleyball Foreign Tour this summer. For the first time in conference history, Big Ten volleyball student-athletes from all 14 schools traveled overseas to both compete, and participate in community services initiatives. Whitney and the Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour Team traveled to Slovenia, Croatia and Italy this summer, opening the trip in Maribor, Slovenia. Northwestern's Keylor Chan served as the team's head coach.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State remains on the road next week, traveling to USF for the South Florida Invitational. Penn State takes on Auburn Friday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. before meeting St. John's and South Florida Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.